the doula formerly known as Earthy Birthy Doula

Month: October 2015

There are two things I love in this world probably more than anything (not including family of course!), and when the two of them collide, I get pretty excited. The two things are beautiful pregnant bellies, and Halloween. So in celebration of all those who are expecting during this wonderful spooky holiday, I have compiled a list of my top ten favourite “with child” Halloween costumes.

10. Wrecking Ball

Okay, this has got to be one of the easiest and funniest Halloween ideas for pregnant bellies. And now you’re singing “I came in like a wrecking ball…” in your head, aren’t you? You’re welcome.

9. Disco Ball

This is great for maternity, but hell, I would wear this even not being pregnant! This is definitely how to be the life of the party, and I bet people will be telling you all night that you glow… are sparkle… or something cheesy like that. Anyways, if you want instructions on how to make this beauty, head on over to Instructables.

8. BB-8 (Baby 8)

Any Star Wars fans? Well, we happen to have a couple in our house, so of course this is a hit with me. In fact, we recently acquired an actual BB-8 droid, and it can often be found getting its cute little head pawed off by our kitties. But man is it fun to watch roll around.

7. Death Star

And of course there is the infamous Death Star. You can put the death star on a shirt like this photo, or you can even get it painted right on your beautiful belly. I think you can even get a large body tattoo for this, but maybe don’t quote me on it.

6. Thing 1 and 2

Aside from the immediate issues I have with this costume (being that women are not things, and Thing 1 did not birth Thing 2), I think it’s pretty damn cute.

5. Baby peeking out of shirt

Okay, this is just cute. I would likely wear this all the time, and not just on Halloween, but if you did yourself up all over, you could probably make this look like a mummy costume too. Either way, cute idea. You can find this shirt in a variety of colours on Etsy (go figure, of course you can).

4. Mummy (to be)

Or you could go the DIY route and just straight up be a mummy. I would still vouch for scary though, and maybe cover the face and add some blood. But that is just me.

3. Beer Belly?

Men spend years working on a beer belly, but for this “special” Halloween costume, you should only need to invest about 6+ months! Keepin’ it classy.

2. Nun

Always a classic… the pregnant nun. So scandalous, and yet so hilarious if you are expecting. I always wanted to be a nun for Halloween when I was expecting, but I was never really far enough along to have a costume that utilized my belly.

Alien!

I can remember clearly watching “Alien” when I was a kid in the 80s, and being scared half to death when the alien baby came bursting out of John Hurt’s stomach. It has become such an iconic scene, and thus is my number 1 pick for maternity Halloween costumes. With a little creativity, you can actually make this costume pretty gory, but I decided to post the kid friendly version. 😉

But wait!! I have a bonus favourite!

Pregnant Unicorn!

As a lover of unicorns, and someone who may or may not own several unicorn costumes (I do BTW), I love this. I love it a lot.

I hope you enjoyed the costume ideas posted here, and if you have any unique costume ideas yourself, I would love to hear them! Happy Halloween!

**ps. if any of these pictures are yours and you would like them taken down or given credit, please let me know. I posted credit where I could, but otherwise could not find the original source

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Last week I travelled to the ABC Kids Expo, which is held yearly in Las Vegas. It is the world’s largest trade show for baby, kid, and family products. There were thousands of businesses exhibiting with interesting, fun, unique, and straight up odd products on display for buyers to look at.

ummmm, what? I don’t even know.

I was in a unique position, where I went to help my partner set up and take down, but otherwise had no ties to any one business. I was not really an exhibitor, or a buyer. I spent the four days floating around, wearing my various hats of doula, babywearing educator, and former baby business owner. I met old friends, new friends, and talked more in those four days than I have all year. It was exhausting… and amazing.

While walking around the massive convention centre, I thought it would be fun to bring some things home and organize a giveaway for those people who could not make it (but who would have loved to). Some of the exhibitors were giving away some really cute swag, so I made it my mission to collect goodies for the giveaway. I am running the giveaway over at Babywearing Calgary, so please head over there to enter!

I have been to Vegas many times, but this was the first time I went to the ABC Kids Expo. I must say, although I was technically in Vegas, it didn’t really feel like it. We spent a bit of time on Fremont Street, some time laying by the pool, and some time eating and drinking. Overall, it was a pretty chill Vegas trip. Yes, I will be going back next year, but this time I’ll bring business cards!

Here are a few more pics of my trip, just for fun.

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I have been brewing my own kombucha for about two years now. Surprisingly, it’s actually incredibly easy. The hard part is going to find a flavour that you like, but with enough trial and error, and some tips from this post, I trust you will love it in no time.

First, let’s go over what kombucha even is. Kombucha is often referred to as “mushroom tea”, but don’t be alarmed, it is not a mushroom at all. It is a fermented tea beverage, chock full of probiotics, B vitamins, and antioxidants. It is made by adding a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacterial and Yeast) to sweetened tea, and allowing it to ferment between 7-14 days.

Steps to brewing kombucha at home:

boil roughly 1 litre of water and pour it over 1 black tea bag in large glass jar

stir in half a cup of sugar (I use unbleached sugar, but you can use a various types)

let steep until tea is at room temperature, then remove tea bag

add one cup of starter and SCOBY

cover jar with clean cloth and let sit for 7 – 14 days

Once your brew has been fermenting for a while, you can taste it by dipping a straw in (trying not to disturb the new SCOBY growing on top), seal the top with a finger, and lifting a small amount of liquid out to taste. If it tastes sweet, it likely hasn’t fermented long enough. A fully fermented brew will taste a little tangy.

After your initial ferment is complete, you can start the process all over again to start a new batch, and begin on a second ferment with the original batch. The second ferment is where you’ll be able to play with flavours and find something that works for your tastebuds. You can add almost anything to flavour kombucha. Play around, add what you like. You can add apple slices, ginger, strawberries, peaches, raisins, dates, cranberries, and even numerous herbs! Leave the second batch for 12-24 hours, or to taste really. I dilute my kombucha with water right before consumption if it’s still too tangy for me.

Here’s the recipe I usually make:

Raspberry Chia

add a small amount of lemon juice (maybe a Tbs)

add a handful of frozen raspberries

let sit for 12-24 hours (to taste)

dilute with water if it is too tangy

add pre-soaked chia

If you want some more options for fabulous tasting kombucha, check out the recipes at Homemade Mommy!

Lastly, if you are pregnant and/or nursing and wondering if this fermented beverage is safe for you to drink, the short answer is yes, with cautions of course. The long answer can be found here.

P.S. if you’re in YYC and in need of a starter, contact me, that just so happens to be something I sell on the side.

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International Babywearing Week runs through October 4 – 10, 2015. They’ve made it pretty awesome this year with various themes and hashtags to use throughout the week. It’s all about embracing, like #embraceyourlove and #embraceyouradventure just to name a couple. You’ll have to go to Babywearing International to see the full list.

“International Babywearing Week is an annual outreach event sponsored by Babywearing International. It is a week-long opportunity to celebrate, promote, advocate for, and focus media attention on the many benefits of babywearing.” ~ Babywearing International

Babywearing Calgary has various events organized to celebrate IBW2015, including mall walks at CrossIron mall, Market mall, and Chinook. They also have a zoo date planned for Friday the 9th, and are organizing a carrier drive.

The carrier drive is pretty awesome actually. Babywearing Calgary is accepting donations of quality carriers and will in turn be taking them to the Elizabeth House (home for pregnant teens) and hopefully the Louise Dean School (school for pregnant teens) as well. With the carriers, Babywearing Calgary will also send in a couple co-leaders to facilitate a small workshop and teach the moms to be how to use their newly acquired carriers. I cannot even begin to say how excited I am about this initiative. For those of you that don’t know, I am one of the co-leaders for Babywearing Calgary, so this is extra exciting.

If you’re in YYC and you want to take part in the events we have planned, look us up on Facebook, or check go take a look at the Babywearing Calgary Blog!